NBC has decided that it can use the new Tivo (TIVO) system which keeps track of people’s TV viewing behavior to target ads for its big marketing clients. According to The Wall Street Journal "the agreement, to be announced as early as today, reflects rising demand in the TV industry for detailed audience viewing information. TiVo."
The deal will not do a number of things. It won’t keep people from skipping ads using their digital video recorders. It won’t keep people from leaving the room when commercials are on. And, it won’t stop people from watching video on the internet instead of TV. It also will not prevent people from watching video-on-demand programming instead of the networks.
The targeting may not even work on its own. Just because a woman is watching a soap opera every day at 2 PM does not mean she is doing the wash and becomes a good target for a detergent commercial.
Other than all of that, the new program is a great idea.
Douglas A. McIntyre